There is one question worth asking before any bulk edit, plugin update or migration: if this goes wrong, can it be undone?
updraftplus/get-status answers it. When the last backup ran, whether that run actually succeeded, how many sets exist, whether one is running right now, what is scheduled next, how long sets are kept, and which remote destinations are configured.
At a glance
| Ability | updraftplus/get-status |
| Toolset | UpdraftPlus — toolset/updraftplus |
| Group | UpdraftPlus › Backup state |
| Requires | UpdraftPlus, active on the site |
| Capability | manage_options |
| Safety | Read-only — changes nothing |
| Repeatable | Idempotent — running it twice leaves the same result |
| Ships in | AcrossAI Abilities Manager 0.0.34 and later |
How it works
Pay attention to last_backup_result. It is deliberately three-valued: true, false, or null when the plugin recorded no outcome at all. Null is not a failure and it is not a success — it means nobody knows, which is its own kind of answer.
Remote destinations are reported by name only. Their credentials are never read, so the response is safe to paste into a ticket while still telling you whether anything is going off-server.
A backup that exists only on this server is not a backup against the server failing. remote_storage being empty is the single most common gap this surfaces.
Input
This ability takes no input.
What comes back
| Name | Type | What it is |
|---|---|---|
backup_count | integer | How many backup sets exist on this server. |
last_backup_time | integer or null | When the last backup ran, as a timestamp. |
last_backup_gmt | string or null | The same moment in GMT. |
last_backup_age | string or null | How long ago that was, in words. |
last_backup_result | boolean or null | Whether the last run succeeded. Null when the plugin records no outcome — not the same as a failure. |
last_backup_errors | array | Errors from the last run. |
running | boolean | Whether a backup is in progress right now. |
schedules | array | What is scheduled, and when it next runs. |
retention | object | How many sets are kept before the oldest is discarded. |
remote_storage | array | Configured destination names. Never their credentials. |
storage_path | string | Where sets are written on this server. |
any_backup | boolean | Whether any backup exists at all. |
note | string | Anything else worth knowing. |
success | boolean | Whether the call completed. |
message | string | A one-line summary of what happened, suitable for showing a human. |
error_code | string | Present only on failure — a stable machine-readable reason, such as a missing field, a wrong field type or an unmet confirmation. |
Example
Ask your assistant:
Before I bulk-update these plugins — is this site backed up?
It resolves to one call:
{
"ability": "updraftplus/get-status",
"parameters": {}
}Worth knowing
- Read-only and cheap. Make it the first call before anything hard to undo.
- A recent backup that failed is worse than no backup, because it looks like cover. Check the result, not just the timestamp.
- Retention matters more than people expect: keeping two sets on a daily schedule means your oldest recovery point is two days old.
Related abilities
- List Backups — the sets behind the count
- Start Backup — take one now if the answer was no
- Check Backup Exposure — whether those backups are downloadable
Get the plugins:
AcrossAI Abilities Manager · AcrossAI MCP Manager
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